Jones is a technically-sound offensive lineman that played center in his most recent season at Alabama. His stature—6’5’’, 302 pounds—is tall and lean, so he doesn’t overpower in either the running game or pass protection. Instead, Jones uses top-notch technique to limit the impact of his defender.

As a run blocker, Jones plays really intelligently. He doesn’t blow defenders off of the ball, but he gets in their way just enough that they can’t make the tackle. He uses excellent body position to wall off defenders from the point-of-attack. He’s not overly aggressive and could benefit from engaging and driving defenders, but again, he’s not a big-time power player.

At 6’3’’, 308 pounds, Short has prototypical size for a 4-3 defensive tackle. He’s a unique player in that he can play with both a one-gap and two-gap mentality; that is, he’s strong enough to hold up at the point, but he can penetrate and make plays in the backfield as well. It’s the latter style of play at which Short excels, though.

Short’s biggest weakness is his motor. He makes a ton of splash plays, but he also seems to get neutralized quite a bit; there’s pretty much bad film on him out there. It isn’t that he’s being lazy, but rather that the nature of his game is simply hit-or-miss; if he doesn’t immediately sidestep an offensive linemen and dip into the backfield, he typically gets neutralized on the play. That problem could potentially be alleviated or at least improved with reduced snaps at the NFL level.

Overall, Short is an outstanding prospect I think many are overlooking. He dominated at Purdue—19.5 sacks and 45 tackles for loss since 2010—and he has the potential to do the same in the NFL. It’s worth nothing that Short is already 24-years old, although that shouldn’t drop his stock too much.